Abstract

Railway transportation has emerged as the major mode with the ongoing modernization of vehicular mechanics. In India, the railway tracks run not only in the outskirts but also in between the suburbs in many places. And with the rising population of the country, most of the trains are over packed with the passengers travelling to their destination. The railway is still the most preferred mode of transportation as compared to flight and road in India. These factors play the role in increasing the chances of accidents in India. It is not quite unusual for us to hear about some sort of railway accident or derailment of a train on a normal day. On average there are 15 deaths every day due to railway accidents since India is the fourth largest country concerning railways transport system. With a huge proportion of the population living without the availability of basic needs of a home, as is commonly seen in form of shanties beside the railway track itself. The railway providing compensation in cases of accident related to it has become a source of easy money, luring many towards the fraudulent use of the rule. The same was seen in the below discussed case report.

• 1.   Rao.M.A, Indian Railways. India the land and the people, National Book Trust India.
• 2.   Sheikh MI, Shah JV, Patel R. Study of death due to Railway accident. J Ind Acad For Med. 2008; 30(3):122-127.
• 3.   Park K. Park’s Text Book of Preventive and Social Medicine, M/s. Banarsidas Bhanot Publishers 1167, Prem Nagar, Jabalpur. 15th Edition. 2011:299.
• 4.   Knight B. HWO COX Medical Jurisprudence and toxicology, 5 th edition 1987 Revised and rewritten by Prof. Bernard Knight page no. The Lawbook Co(P)Ltd. Sardar Patel Marg, Allahabad. 309- 311.
• 5.   Mohanty MK, Panigrahi MK, Mohanty S, Patnaik KK. Death due to traumatic railway injury. Med Sci Law. 2007;47:156-160.
• 6.   National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India (2019). Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India 2018.
• 7.   Evans AW (2003) Accidental fatalities in transport. J R Stat Soc Ser A 166(2):253–260.
• 8.   Miller TR, Douglass JB, Pindus NM (1994) Railroad injury: causes, costs, and comparisons with other transport modes. J Safety Res 25(4):183–195.
• 9.   Goldberg BA, Mootha RK, Lindsey RW (1998) Train accidents involving pedestrians, motor vehicles, and motorcycles. Am J Orthop 27(4):315–320.
• 10.   Ministry of Railways of India, The railways' accident and untoward incident (Compensation) Rules, 1990.
• 11.   Apurba Nandy (2010). Principles of forensic medicine including toxicology (3rdedn) New Central Book agency, Howrah: 473- 474.
• 12.   Lerer L.B & matzopolulos R.G (1997) fatal railway injuries in cape town south Africa AM.J Forensic Medicine & Pathology 19, 144-147.
• 13.   Press Information Bureau Government of India Ministry of Railways, 27th Dec 2016.

Data Sharing Statement

Funding